The long-awaited West Seattle Trader Joe’s at 4545 Fauntleroy Way SW opens at 8 am. Mark says he got there at 4:30 am to be the first person in line. As of about quarter till 7, when we photographed him in the golden glow of the rising sun, Mark was the only person in line. He tells us first thing he’s buying is a case of the famous TJ’s wine, known by its nickname “Two-Buck Chuck.” More coverage to come – we’ll be adding to this story through the day.

7:59 AM: By the time the doors were about to open, Mark had been joined by about two dozen others:

8:12 AM: Our crew tells us the store actually opened a few minutes early. Here’s the ceremonial lei-cutting:

So, no traffic jam at this hour. We’ll check back later.

10:14 AM UPDATE: Thanks for sharing first-hand reports in the comment section! We also got a mural photo, shared via Twitter by Jose:

11:07 AM UPDATE: Three hours into Day 1, we drove back by to check traffic/parking. In a word: Busy. Here’s the view looking south down 39th SW – just west of the store (and on the left of our photo, you’ll see the entrance/exit to TJ’s roof parking) – this was taken before 11 am, so West Seattle Bowl wasn’t even open yet:

4:53 PM UPDATE: Drove by within the past hour. Still busy. Remember that if it looks like there’s no parking in the lot that faces Fauntleroy, turn right at “The Hole” and try the upstairs parking, entrance on the right (east) side of 39th SW.

11:41 PM NOTE: In the final hours of the store’s first day, business was really booming. We walked through around 7:30 and noticed long checkout lines; after we tweeted a mention of that, @juyeda – also in the store – tweeted this photo. And we forgot to mention one thing – this store has just officially applied for its license to sell liquor when privatization takes full effect June 1st.

91 Comments

I’ll refrain comment on this photo and add I’ll just shop at the Burien location for a bit (all be it only 11 miles away)

Looked up the link left by Neighbor – the incident was from 2008 – tried to google an update but did not find one. Did discover that TJ’s recently signed a fair food agreement in Florida with workers there.

Just drove to the Junction and parked to go to Great Harvest for some bread…and low and behold! An empty bottle of Charles Shaw Merlot in an abandoned shopping cart in the parking lot. Someone is efficient! LOL

Anybody who waits 4 1/2 hours in the middle of the night to buy a case of Two-Buck Chuck needs to have their head examined. Two-Buck Chuck is barely vinegar, much less wine. If you are new to the TJ’s experience (and I suspect many West Seattleites are) avoid this swill at all costs. Enjoy a bottle of real wine instead of 12 bottles of nasty headache juice.

I was totally going to go and try and beat the guy at 4:30 am but responsiblity got the better of me and I ended up at work instead…oh well. I figure the groceries will still be there after work. I’m getting so old and boring at 26.

I went at about 8:45 this morning and it was BUZZING! Steel drum one-man band, lei’s, samples, and a free TJ shopping bag. Took me about an hour to wander through ooo’ing and aaaah’ing… wishing I hadn’t done any grocery shopping earlier in the week and doubly wishing my freezer was larger!

I love this place and have found my new “as close to perfect as it gets” grocery store!

Went for the first time around 8:15AM and it was hopping! Parking lots were full, but found a spot right away. The staff was super nice and the vibe in the store was great. Tons of people in the store and the lines at the register were really efficient! I didn’t have any issues pulling out of the parking lot, either, and it was morning rush hour traffic. A+++ shopping experience! Way to go West Seattle Trader Joe’s!

Sweet Cheeses in Heaven and all the local dialing area thereof! All my hopes and dreams will now be realized! I am paralyzed with delight at my new consumer shrine wherein I shall have all that my life has sorely missed provided to me! Everything will be fine now West Seattle! The coyotes will be fed and I can leave my laundry room where I have been eating only dryer lint and Febreze since late March. All my rancor and distemper will melt away into a fragrant puddle of sweet smelling Trader Joes Phad Thai flavored Kashi Breakfast Bars! All the ticked offed-ness of the past several decades (including that snowstorm that was Nickels pre-bearded fault and that earthquake that Paul Schell brought on) shall be forgotten in a Two Buck Chuck binge related haze….AH bliss…Trader Joes has opened! And right where I bought that crappy Chrysler PT Cruiser – the one where the G-Darn defroster didn’t work. Nuts. That nirvana didn’t last long. Careful what you wish for West Seattle.

At one-third the price of others, your Cambozola Cheese
Is most exceptional, and aimed to please.
Your Spicy Shrimp Bao with Thai Basil are quite delish—
To have you in our neighborhood is what we wish!

At night we dream of your Dark Chocolate Pistachio Toffee…
Now it’s here in the Junction with our morning coffee.
For these reasons and many more, we offer this little ode:
Yes, oh yes, at last West Seattle got Trader Joe’d!

oh Mike and Jan; you made me laugh so hard; thank you for thinking of me; and yes, I was there for first 2 hours and going back after a respite
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first of all, I burst into tears when I walked in the door; yep, very emotional; so happy; beyond ecstatic; big crowd when the doors opened; more and more kept arriving; everyone so happy; overwhelmingly wonderful
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and then on to exploring, looking up close at all the details in the gorgeous murals, meeting all the staff; talking to neighbors; more exploring
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they have the largest restrooms I’ve ever seen in a TJ’s; 3 stalls, 2 sinks, changing table
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our street signs line the wall of the hallway; mine is there (Hinds)
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little shopping carts for the kidlets; super awesome
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excellent parking; ~50 in surface lot next to store; another bunch upstairs; I parked in garage, which is very pleasant, filled with light from windows, painted yellow guard rails; there is clear choice of elevator or stairs to and from store from upper parking
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there are bike racks in upper garage; and they will be installing bike racks out front; today there are staff out front who will watch your bike for you (at least that’s what they offered to the bicyclist I saw)
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festive steel drums; balloon creations; lei’s; free TJ’s bags; lots of sampling; fully stocked shelves (which I’ve never seen) so all the staff were able to circulate, welcome, chat
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only down side of the day/which is also a plus, because at least I am forewarned; my current favorite item is being discontinued (which I won’t reveal because it’ll sell out); so I stocked up, and have to start weaning myself off; dang, this always happens with TJ’s
~
I am for sure going back later today to observe the after-work traffic flow and parking situation, especially after the bowling alley opens
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I brought my camera, but didn’t take any pics yet; will try to do that next time
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after all, now I can go to Trader Joe’s every day; yay yay yay !!!
~
oh, and then a couple errands; BECU atm at Admiral Safeway; which was empty; tee hee

Just got back…walked a ways to get there since it’s a nice sunny day. I haven’t shopped TJs in years because it wasn’t convenient and was very surprised at their lower prices on most items. I was just going to look around this morning but ended up with two bags since their prices were so great. Agree that there was a good vibe at the store and friendly employees. Lines were full, but there wasn’t a really long wait. Definitely worth the visit!

You want good prices on food, try shopping at the new Super saver in white center. I could not belive how ceap things are. Sure it does not have all the new paint an fancey murals but the prices are right. Oh and they still have plastic bags.

It’s hard to get out of that “gotta stock up because who knows how long it will be until we make it back” mode. We’re so used to buying 3 or 4 packages of hummus at a time – it’s really hard to buy just one but then I realized I can go to TJ’s any time I damn well please now. . . . . life is good.

TJ’s rocks! I recently had to relocate temporarily to Idaho for a job and while I have always LOVED Trader Joe’s and have always shopped there faithfully for cheese, veggies, wine, etc., once I was in an area that didn’t have a TJ’s (not 1 in the entire state) I realized just how lucky we are in Washington to have Trader Joe’s. I am moving back in less than two weeks and one of the first stops I will make will be the TJ’s in Everett! Long live TJ’s. You make my life complete ; )

@ Noelle-You want a WHOLE FOODS? Take a look in the big hole behind TJs. You can blame that on WHOLE FOODS. And there used to be a big fabric store there. Gone! Blame that on WHOLE FOODS, too! I say phooey on WHOLE FOODS and their bad practices.

Love the new store – it is so open in comparison to other TJ’s in the city.

“Hopefully the UFCW can do something about TJ being non-union”

Honest question: Why unionize when you do not need to? Now this is just based on my own experience but I have two family members who work for Trader Joe in Oregon for upwards of 5 years now and they love it. They make well above Union level wages (well more then what one of them did as a 10 year Safeway employee) have benefits that include insurance, guaranteed full time hours, paid vacation time, and generally feel that there is excellent communication between employees and their supervisors/higher ups. This has been pretty much what I have heard talking to long time employees here in Washington. Why change a good thing?

1. My understanding is that they are union-free by choice. (And paid well with great benefits.). I can tell just by chatting with TJ’s employees that they are much happier with their jobs than most employees at Safeway.
2. They don’t receive any food from China. If you read the labels, it will always tell you country of origin. Unless its produced in the US– in that case no labeling is necessary.
3. Their website explains very well how they can provide such low prices.

Mike, don’t blame Whole Foods for the hole in the ground, it was clearly the developers’ fault, WF was merely the prospective tenant, together with Hancock Fabrics, perhaps it was an overly ambitious project but get your “villains” straight please.

2. I am appalled at the “lei-cutting” ceremony. For starters, there is no Trader Joe’s in Hawaii and cutting a lei is not even close to how Hawaii celebrates the opening of a new establishment. What a way to stomp on a culture that already has a great distaste for mainland values. Trader Joe’s should really research this before making executive decisions to have some attempt at a Hawaiian blessing ceremony.

The official parking is the lot accessible from Fauntleroy Way, on the east side of the store, and the roof area accessible from 39th SW, on the west side of the store. By “overflow” I meant street parking – there are some angle spaces on both sides of 39th, for example.

Loved the new store. Just wished that the signature gatherer for the 2/3 tax initiative wasn’t there being the greeter for the store. Casts a bad light on the opening – let’s be apolitical on such occasions. I get the first amendment implications, but dog gone it, can we set aside political issues from celebrations?

Harry Reems, you support only union based grocers? I try to avoid them. I worked for that union many moons ago (nearly 15+ years ago), they took my money every paycheck and gave me NOTHING in return. Why, how’s that you ask? Because if you don’t work enough hours (high school kids only got to work 20 hours a week during the school year, state law here) you don’t get any union benefits. However, you’re required to pay union dues or be FIRED! Eventually I left and worked elsewhere. I’ve never worked for a union again and honestly, I can’t say there’s any reason to work for a union. I always feel horrible for the poor bastards forced to strike or be fired. Sad, just sad.

Finally! Can’t wait to visit. I think it’s the closest Vashon will ever be to a TJ’s. And when my bus went by at 6:00 am Friday, there was no one waiting outside. “Mark” must have wandered off for a potty break.

Mike – I can’t speak to your specific situation, but it’s very likely that you benefitted from the wage scale that was negotiated by the union, the working conditions that were negotiated by the union, and the employer accountability to treat their workers fairly–that was due to union presence.

Thistle – I can’t claim with certainty that it is the case with TJ’s; but there are plenty of situations where employers have treated their employees well specifically in order to avoid being unionized. When that’s the primary motivation, then those workers, whether they recognize it or not, are benefitting from the presence of unions.
I get that unions have their share of examples of making bone-headed decisions. What’s mystifying is that businesses also have no shortage of examples of bone-headed decisions, and yet you never hear that businesses have “served their purpose and need to go away.” The notion of workers having a place at the table is the whole reason for unions; and the need for that will never go away.

All employees in this country benefit from the work of unions as they have to abide by laws that unions fought to win. If they act under the threat of being unionized that is a benefit of unions. Unions have a word for those workers at trader joe’s – freeloaders.

Went to TJ’s yesterday, it was very nice. Much larger than any other TJ’s I’d been to before. I knew it would be a bit crazy, some of the lines did stretch from the registers halfway down a few of the aisles, which was inconvenient but expected. I didn’t really see anyone grumbling or scowling about waiting, so everyone seemed to have similar expectations.

For anyone who came to this specific thread to remind everyone why TJ’s is inferior to X store, you really should stop. That’s not entirely unlike walking up to a group of people at a video game store that explicitly caters to the Xbox and someone walks in and just spouts on and on about how inferior it is to a Playstation 3.

Really? You have that kind of time? You’re that bored and/or condescending? Shop at PCC, shop at a place with unions, but leave the people who are very pleased with their choices to enjoy those choices. It’s the Internet, there are a lot of other more (and less) productive things to do.

I had to go go on opening day. I signed the online petition a couple of years ago to get TJs in West Seattle. It worked! It was a real neighborhood feeling yesterday afternoon. Lots of people inexplicably smiling while they were shopping. I even ran into friends. It was a great day to be home.

Diane, if you find yourself face to face with someone holding the last package, of whatever the soon to be discontinued item is, and they’re pondering buying it, simply say: “Oh, you don’t want to waste your money on that! I bought it once, and it was terrible!”

.

Then, as they thank you, and set the item back down, and walk away, you can grab it! ;-)

.

Years and years ago, a buddy of mine where I worked at the time related how he had gone to a video rental place on his lunchbreak to pick up a particular movie. Some other guy was holding the only copy left, reading the synopsis on the label.
My buddy sez (paraphrasing): “I rented that movie last week. It was terrible!” The other guy puts the movie back on the shelf and walks away, and my buddy had the movie he wanted for the weekend!

When I lived in Austin, I used to shop at the flagship Whole Foods at W. 6th and Lamar. For West Seattle, between the new Trader Joes, the Metropolitan, PCC, and the Farmers’ Market, a Whole Foods here would be a hugely disappointing experience.

And if you wanna expand the range to include all of Seattle and the plethora of specialty shops and stores (like Uwajimaya), I have no idea how Whole Foods competes with that. Folks, we live in the foodie capital of the planet. Relish that fact.

Many of you seem to have little idea of how a union works. Thank you to those of you who spoke of freeloaders and how all of us are benefiting from unions (child-labor laws? 40-hr work-weeks? overtime? minimum wage? etc. etc.). Trader Joe’s regularly fires people who start to discuss forming a union. This is not legal, but it is notoriously hard to prosecute. Your cheap food comes at great moral cost, and great physical cost to workers of all low-wage jobs. Shop union; in this city it’s difficult not to. It never ceases to amaze me how many people show up to Seattle protests carrying Target Bags, Starbucks Lattes, and Trader Joe’s food. It’s all connected, and it starts with all of us not patronizing anti-union stores like Trader Joe’s.

@Thistle: You’re correct that if you ask TJ workers if they’re happy, most will say yes. That’s because they fire the ones who start to speak up for living wages, a seat at the table, a voice in their working conditions, etc. Then they bribe the “good” (non-union) ones so they don’t get such ideas.

@Mike: your comment is infuriating – what did the union do for me? “The union” was you. There is no third-party. You, unfortunately, appear to have believed management anti-union propaganda that there is this magical fat-cat union that just takes your money and does nothing. I ask you, what would’ve happened had you been disciplined for something you hadn’t done? That’s right, you would’ve had a union. That contract that guaranteed you just-cause? From the union. Your wage scale ensuring that you didn’t get paid more than someone else based on your sex? From the union. But moreover, if you didn’t feel the union contract was giving you what you wanted, you should have gone to your local meetings and used your voice and your vote to change it. Management doesn’t give you the option to affect change; union democracy is the only place you’ll get that in this country. Your union was only as strong as the people who did not show up to their local meetings to vote. Also, you blame state laws about part-timers, but somehow the union was responsible for that? It doesn’t even make sense. Finally, it sounds like you lived in a closed-shop state. This is great; it prevents management from being able to take high-school kids (most of whom don’t care about things like living wages or health insurance) and convince them that a few dollars a month to their union are not worth it, thereby corroding the power of the union for all workers including the full-time adults who are trying to make ends meet on minimum wage and no health insurance.

@LG: This incident was widely-documented at the time. Two deaths of TJ workers. The fact that you can’t find information about it should show you just how scary Trader Joe’s is as a corporation. Do you really want to support a company that can completely expunge the deaths of two human beings so that you can feel good about drinking some really cheap wine?